


Pokefiction #8.1: Power Surge (Part One)

by BennyTesla14



Series: Pokefiction: Series One [8]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Language, Possession, Star Wars References, Violence, part one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-30
Updated: 2015-09-30
Packaged: 2018-04-20 17:16:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4795757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BennyTesla14/pseuds/BennyTesla14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Infamous is getting tired of Chris and his friends getting in the way of their plans, and now they're desperate. Could their new plan be too much for Chris and the gang to stop?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pokefiction #8.1: Power Surge (Part One)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there, everyone! Welcome back to Pokefiction: Series One after a long summer of me not putting in the motivation to write a single work (I know I'm pathetic, so don't even bother).

It was the end of another long day at Lt. Surge's gym in Vermillion City; another day of the usual flood of trainers to challenge him. Naturally, the majority of the poor kids didn't stand a chance against him, but a good few trainers managed a win. Lt. Surge let out a tired sigh as he walked down the large platform at the end of the gym. As his Raichu snored lightly in its exhausted sleep, Surge walked through the humming barrier before his platform. Two large silver conduits as tall as Surge himself were still alive with electricity inside them.

Lt. Surge's large combat boots' thuds were the only other sounds in the large room. Every night, he had to turn off the flow of electricity to the barrier at the end of the gym. The switch was inside a metal circuit breaker at the opposite end of the gym, right next to the sliding glass doors. As he walked towards the small metal door, he dug through the pocket of his camo pants and found a small key, quickly pulling it out. Just as Surge was about ten feet from the circuit breaker, he heard a strange noise.

He heard a tiny whisper that seemed like it was from right behind his left ear. It was like a whisp of air that flew by, unlike an actual voice. Thanks to his many years of army training, Surge's senses were always on high alert, so his head snapped behind him in a flash. He looked around quickly, and saw nothing but his empty gym. Suddenly, he heard a tiny  _clink!_ of metal from behind him. He returned his gaze once more to the circuit breaker, but what he saw made him uneasy.

The thin metal door of the circuit breaker hung wide open, making Surge tighten his grip on the key in his hand, convincing himself that this wasn't some odd dream. And one other sight caused Lt. Surge to become more bewildered. Of all the rows of little black switches on the wall, the one bright red switch on the very bottom (which happened to be the master breaker) was twitching ever so slightly.

Surge witnessed the switch abruptly snap to the side just before the entire room became pitch dark. Lt. Surge took a step back, almost tripping with his altered sense of balance. "WHO'S THERE!?" he barked into the room. "SHOW YOURSELF!"

His orders were met with eerie silence. After a few seconds of silence, he heard it again: the whisp of air in his ear, only this time, he heard it speak with a dry, icy tone. " _Su-u-u-u-urge...your soldiers need you, Lieutenant..."_

The gym leader blindly threw his fist around him, hoping to hit something, but in vain. He swallowed slowly, and despite the fear inside him, his voice was firm and fearless. "You don't scare me! Show yourself, or I'll remove from this gym by FORCE!" he yelled.

Just then, Surge heard a quiet giggle in his ear. " _You don't scare me either...especially not when you become my puppet!_ "

A freezing cold blast of wind collided with Surge's back as he felt it enter his body, filling him to the fingertips with a mind-numbing cold. The coldness slowly took over his whole mind and body, making the gym leader lose all feeling of control. He felt his muscles tense up, causing him to freeze like a statue. Surge stood there for five seconds before he calmly regained his upright composure, staring dead ahead at the glass doors, specifically at the person standing behind them; its outline barely visible in the darkness outside.

Lt. Surge walked slowly to the doors, and they slid open automatically. He looked down calmly at girl in front of him. "I'm in," he said, monotonous.

Talia looked up at the large man and nodded. "Good. Wait here for further orders," she replied. The two exchanged another nod, and Surge walked back into the dark gym, letting the doors close behind him. Talia turned to her left and walked down the empty sidewalk, alone in the night. On the right sleeve of her dress, a red metal "I" reflected the yellow light of the street lamps in her path.

***************

 It was just a few days after the gang's encounter with Thorn and her odd friends, and they had set up camp on Route 11. The gang sat in the grass in their little campground with an important decision on their hands.

"Come on, Josh, you have to vote sooner or later," Amy said to her brother.

Amy sat next to Chris, with Cal and Rai across them. The four of them all had their right hand up in the air whilst exchanging stern glares.

Josh, who sat at the head of the formation, looked uneasily to the two groups. "I don't know...do I  _have_ to choose?" he asked quietly.

"YES." Amy said forcefully. "We can't decide where to go until we reach a majority."

Josh looked to the ground, deep in thought. After a moment he spoke. "What were my options again?"

The whole group replied with a long moan. "Just pick a damn city!!" Cal barked. Amy leaned towards him and slapped his arm. "CAL! Watch your language around my little brother!" she ordered.

"Ok, everyone calm down and shut up," Chris said calmly, then turning to Josh. "You have one of two choices. We can either go to Vermillion City, or we can go to Celadon City."

Josh nodded slowly. "Uh-huh...wait, I thought you said Fuschia City...I didn't know Vermillion was a choice..." he mumbled.

"Nope. The choices haven't changed since we started this conversation about..." he paused to check his watch, "eight minutes ago."

Cal then leaned forward, attracting Josh's attention. "I vote we go to Celadon because it doesn't have an electric type gym, unlike Vermillion."

"You don't wanna go to Vermillion 'cuz you're afraid of a challenge," Chris replied, rolling his eyes.

"At least I  _have_ a reason! You're just voting with Amy because you like her!" he snapped.

Chris would've blushed if he weren't being so annoyed at the moment. "That's not the reason. I want to go to Vermillion because I happen to enjoy its sea-side views. Do you have a problem with oceans!?" he answered, trying to sound as intimidating as possible. Cal merely rolled his eyes. "Please. My favorite type is Water."

"Woah, woah," Amy piped up, leaning forward as well. "C'mon, don't argue. It's a simple decision, and you're friends! So don't be mean!"

"Yeah, Amy's right! No one wants to hear your negativity," Rai agreed from across her. Amy snapped her head around at her Pokemon. "If I'm so right, then  _why aren't you voting with me?_ " she snapped angrily.

"I don't wanna go to Vermillion because of the gym like Cal said! I don't really like other electric Pokemon, especially gym Pokemon. They always make me feel bad about myself," she replied sheepishly.

Upon her reply, the four sprang into a full on argument, talking angrily over one another. Little Josh looked to and from each side, only being reminded how he didn't like arguments. "I vote to go to Vermillion."

The whole group was silenced, all looking to Josh. "What did you say?" Chris asked.

"I said I vote for Vermillion," he repeated. "I didn't like watching you guys argue, so I just picked one."

Chris and Amy exchanged gleeful high-fives as they began to go around their camp and take down tents and such, leaving a disgruntled Cal and Rai on the ground. "I vote to leave this group," Cal mumbled. He looked down at Rai. "How bout you?"

"Eh. No thanks," she replied. Cal nodded his head slowly, then shook it. "Yup; still can't tell what you're saying," he replied.

***************

After a 30 minute trek through Route 11, burying any hostile feelings amongst the friends, they arrived in Vermillion City. The sea-side town was filled with life and vibrant people. The air was warm with gentle, salty breezes coming from the ocean. The gang walked down crowded, bustling streets towards the Pokemon Center. From inside the building, a small girl with black hair, wearing a dark purple dress, ran frantically through the lobby, whispering to herself, "I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!." Three Pokeballs were held loosely from her arms, bouncing aggressively with each bound of her small feet. Just as Chris and his friends passed through the doors, the girl crossed their path; specifically Josh's path. The girl's arm rammed into Josh side as she ran past him. "SORRY!" she yelled as she ran out into the busy city.

"No worries!" Josh called after her, rubbing his throbbing shoulder. Just as the boy resumed walking, he collided with the back of a tall man with a white coat. "Ouch! Why do I always run into people!?" he mumbled to himself. Josh looked up just as the man turned and looked down at him.

"Professor Oak?" Josh said in disbelief. 

The Pokemon professor flashed his patent smile down at him. "Hello there, Josh! My, it's been a while now, hasn't it? What's it been since I saw you? Almost two months!" he said with a chuckle.

"It almost seems like longer," Josh replied, returning the smile. Oak nodded. "Indeed it has!" he added. "So tell me, where are the others?"

Josh tilted his head to get a view behind the Professor, scanning the lobby for his friends in vain. "Well, they're all here, so they probably went to their rooms without me," he answered with a sigh.

"Well tell me then: how has your adventure been going so far? Full of thrills and excitement, I assume?" he asked cheerfully. Josh pursed his lips in thought. His initial response would have been  _Well, the adventure so far has been a little bit more life threatening than I had expected, but I've had a good time so far_ , but common sense got the best of little Josh, making him say, "It's been great! Super fun, too! My Vulpix even evolved into Ninetales!" Josh held out his Capacity Ball and displayed it proudly to Professor Oak. 

The professor leaned down and examined the ball carefully. "I see! And this...this isn't an ordinary Pokeball, is it?" he observed.

Josh shook his head. "No it's not. Chris invented it; he calls it the Capacity Ball. He said it's about...thirty percent smaller than a normal Pokeball, and can hold up to six Pokemon in one. Chris made one for all of us!" he explained.

"Very intriguing indeed!" Oak replied with a nod. "This is quite remarkable..."

"So why are you here in town? Shouldn't you be at your lab in Pallet Town?" Josh questioned the professor.

"Normally I would, but Giovanni Sakaki--you know, the President of the Rocket Corporation and Gym Leader in Viridian City--has invited the gym leaders and mayors of every town to a party on the S.S. Anne here in Vermillion City! Every year, Kanto's most important individuals gather together to celebrate one of Kanto's greatest achievements. It's the ships 45th anniversary, you know!" he explained. The professor looked down at Josh, who was still smiling eagerly. "But anyway, enough with my babbling. I should go get ready; the party starts at 7, and it's already 5:30! You go off and find your friends; enjoy what this great city has to offer!"

Professor Oak walked off and out into the city, waving to Josh as the doors of the Pokemon Center closed behind him. Josh waved back as he walked through the lobby. The young boy eventually made it to the upstairs section of the building where the Trainers' Quarters housed his friends. Josh walked up to an open door, finding the others inside. Amy and Rai sat on a bunk above Chris and Cal, who sat on the bottom bunk, playing with their Pokemon trading cards.

"What took you so long?" Amy asked as her brother entered the room.

"I ran into--literally--Professor Oak downstairs in the lobby!" he answered, excited.

"What's the Professor doing here?" Chris asked, keeping his eyes fixed on his Pokemon cards.

"Professor Oak is here for some thingy with the big boat here in town! He was invited along with all the gym leaders and mayors of all over Kanto for the annual sailing of the S.S. Amanda. It's its 45th anniversary...wait, was it the S.S. Amanda?...or was it S.S. Amy?...Alice?...oh! It was Anne! The S.S. Anne! Apparently it's a pretty big deal." Josh explained gleefully.

"Party on a boat," Chris replied. "Sounds like fun!"

Cal threw down the cards onto the bed. "Wait, then if all the gym leaders are on this boat party thing, then that means Lt. Surge isn't gonna be around to battle us today. So...what should we do all day?" he asked the group.

The group all fell silent as they thought about their possibilities; nothing particularly came quickly to their minds. "I heard there's a Star Wars movie marathon at the movie theater here in town..." Amy suggested.

"That sounds like it could be fun!" Chris replied. Cal jumped off the bed excitedly. "Hell yeah that's a good idea! Let's go!"

The gang happily walked out the room. As Amy and Rai jumped off the top bunk, the Pokemon tugged at the hem of Amy's red shirt. "Hey Amy? Do you mind if I go around town and do some sight seeing?" she asked.

"You don't wanna go to the movies, sweetie?" Amy asked, kneeling down to Rai's level. Rai shook her head. "Nah, with movies I could take 'em or leave 'em. Could Arcanine, Ninetales, and Alakazam come with?" she asked.

"Of course! Here, you can take Arcanine," Amy replied, tossing Rai her Pokeball. Amy leaned out the door. "CHRIS! CAN RAI TAKE YOUR POKEBALL WITH HER AROUND TOWN?" she shouted down the hall.

"WHAT?" Chris's voice echoed up from the staircase at the end of the hall.

"I SAID: COULD RAI TAKE YOUR POKEBALL?" she repeated.

"...WHAT!?"

"UGH! I SAID, CAN R--you know what, I'm not gonna yell. Just go steal it from him, I'll explain later," she said quickly, gesturing with her thumb out the door.

"Thanks, Amy!" Rai said happily, running out the door quickly. 

"Just be safe, hun," Amy called after her, speed-walking her way down the hall.

***************

 As the humans of the group went off to enjoy their movie, Rai, accompanied by Arcanine, Ninetales, and Alakazam, walked down the sidewalks near the coastline. All of them were surprisingly bored. "I'm not gonna lie to you, guys, I thought there would be more for us to do," Rai said as she and the gang walked slowly past various shops and buildings.

"It's not so bad," Ninetales replied, walking next to Arcanine. "It's a great day, the sea is beautiful, and...yeah, I'm grasping for straws."

"Here's an idea!" Arcanine said excitedly, running to the front and facing the others. "We could all go to the movies!"

"That's the idea we turned down, remember?" Rai answered.

"To be fair, it was you who turned down the offer; not all of us," Alakazam added telepathically to the others.

Rai rolled her eyes. "Whatever, you know what I mean. What I'm saying is that we have this whole city to ourselves for a whole evening, so we should be able to-..."

"OUCH!" Ninetales cried, cutting Rai off just as a young man on a bike sped past her. "What!?" Rai exclaimed.

"That stupid biker just ran over one of my tails!" the fox replied, tears welling in her eyes. Ninetales sat on the ground and wrapped her numerous tails around herself, one on the edge with a noticeably large pink bruise.

Arcanine looked at the injury and a low growl escaped from his throat. As Rai and Alakazam surrounded Ninetales to comfort her, he looked over behind him just in time to see the cyclist dart around the corner of the street. Arcanine took off like a jet down the street, barking loudly as he did so. The other three looked to him, startled. "Arcanine!? Where are you--WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Rai yelled after him.

"I need to go kick some rude guy's ASS!" he yelled back to her, just before rounding the corner of the street.

"Well...I!..." Rai stuttered. "WELL THEN WAIT FOR ME!" 

Rai got down on all fours and raced after the fire type. "We need to go after them!" Ninetales said with concern.

"But you're hurt! I advise that we wait here," Alakazam suggested.

Ninetales shook her head and stood up quickly. "I'm fine, see? It's no big deal! Now let's go! I don't want Arcanine to do anything dumb!...or Rai too, for that matter. Now come on!" she said with a jerk of her head. Ninetales and the psychic type ran down the street, weaving in and out of people on the sidewalks like a flowing river. The two slid around the corner of the street and found themselves at the edge of a large sea of people, all crowded into the market area of the city; its busiest location, in fact. "Oh, snap-doodles...how are we gonna find those two now!? There must be about...one hundred and thirty-five people all in this one street!" she exclaimed after a quick calculation.

"Impressive," Alakazam added with a nod. "How'd you get so smart?"

"Evolution. Apparently Ninetales can gain up to nine thousand IQ points upon evolving," she explained with a smile. "But that's not important. Gah...where is ARCANINE!?"

Just then, the two Pokemon spotted a jet of fire spurt up from somewhere deep in the crowds, accompanied with a quick scream and the sound of a crashing bike. "I think I might have an idea where they are," Alakazam said dryly. 

"Let's go!" Ninetales commanded, leading the way into the dense crowds. The fire type shoved people out of the way as quickly as she could, until she pushed past one final person and came into a clearing. The crowds had formed a wide open circle around the biker, who lay on the ground beside his bike. He stared fearfully at Arcanine, whose huge and powerful body stood over him, his jaw fixed in an aggressive snarl, with Rai right beside him.

"Arcanine! What do you think you're doing!?" Ninetales yelled, approaching the two. Arcanine looked over his shoulder at her and smiled with a devious glint in his eye. "And there she is!" he said. Arcanine looked back down at the biker and snarled once more. "APOLOGIZE," he barked, jerking his head over his shoulder.

"What are you?..." the biker began. He leaned up slightly and saw the (now purple) bruise on Ninetales's fragile tail. "OH! Her! I ran over her tail!? Oh my God, I am SO sorry! Truly, I am!"

Arcanine continued glaring at the man until Ninetales came up beside him. "Arcanine, stop it. Now. I don't want you to do anything violent or stupid that you might regret," she explained seriously. Arcanine glanced at her, then looked back at the biker and gave him one last snarl for good measure, before he walked off, letting the others follow. As Rai followed from the back, she looked over at the biker as he stood up with his bike and stuck out her tongue.

Soon, after the four had pushed through the people and were walking on the sidewalk, Arcanine looked over to Ninetales proudly, but saw her somber expression. "Nine? Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Yeah there's something wrong!" she snapped. "What the flip were you thinking back there!? You could have really hurt that man and gotten into  _serious_ trouble!"

Arcanine was taken aback at this."I was trying to protect you! That jerk ran over your tail!" he objected. 

"Yeah,  _on accident,_ _"_ she persisted. "Do you think I like having to come running to you and stop you from doing something so stupid and senseless!? It's embarrassing!"

Suddenly, Arcanine's actions began to seem less honorable in his head. Was what he did wrong? "But...Ninetales...I," he stammered.

"But nothing," she snapped. "Just leave me alone." Ninetales angrily walked ahead of him, walking by Alakazam a distance ahead of him. Arcanine sighed sadly. Just then, he noticed Rai walking beside him. "Rough," she said bluntly.

"Yeah...," he replied with a mumble.

"Hey, don't let her get to you, bud," Rai continued with a pat on his shoulder. 

"How can't I? I was trying to protect her, and I ended up screwing it up...," he added, looking at the ground sadly.

"I know, it's just that some people are just like that," she added.

"Yeah, but why does she have to  _be like that_ ," he repeated with distain. "I mean, it was obviously a gesture of kindness, so why could she just see that...Rai?"

Arcanine stopped in his tracks as he noticed his little electric friend wasn't by him. He looked back over his shoulder to see her standing next to the doors of Lt. Surge's gym, staring through them with a quizzical look on her face. "Rai? What's going on?" Arcanine asked, approaching her.

Rai tilted her head, still looking into the gym. "Arcanine...you remember that I told you guys about that huge boat party thing tonight, right?" she mumbled.

Arcanine quickly looked down the street at Ninetales and Alakazam. "Hey guys, wait up for just a sec!" he called. He looked back down to Rai. "Yeah, I do. Why do you ask?"

Rai looked to her friend. "Then that means Lt. Surge should be on the boat right now, yeah?" Arcanine nodded. "Then what's he doing in there with whoever that is with him?"

Arcanine looked through the dark glass door of the gym. Sure enough, Lt. Surge stood in the middle of his dimly-lit gym, talking down to a young girl in front of him. Suddenly, Rai gasped. She'd seen this girl before.

"Arcanine! That girl! I saw her earlier today!" Rai exclaimed in a whisper, as if she feared her voice would carry through the walls. "She was running like a mad woman in the Pokemon Center when we got here. She even rammed right into Josh on her way out!"

Arcanine nodded slowly, a tad bit confused. "Ok...but so what? She's just some girl. It's nothing suspicious, is it?" he asked.

"Well, if Professor Oak and all the gym leaders were invited to this party thing like he said they were, why isn't Lt. Surge with them?" Rai answered. "Hey...it looks like they're talking...I'm gonna try and listen in."

"What? That's an invasion of privacy...or something," Arcanine objected. "And how are you even going to hear them through a thick glass door?"

Rai waved her paw dismissively. "Please, my freaky-big ears can hear anything. Now shush!" Rai pressed the side of her face against the glass. The voices were a little muddled, but she could still decipher what they were saying.

"Cerulean? Come in, Cerulean. Are you there?" Rai heard the girl's squeaky voice say. Her question was answered by a small radio in her hands, which Rai couldn't hear very well. All she did hear was "Vermillion," "cave," and "go."

 Rai backed up from the door and peered inside, seeing something strange in her line of sight. She saw something that looked like camouflage, and...were those boots? Rai slowly looked up through the glass and saw Lt. Surge with his large arms crossed and an angry glare in his eyes.

Rai looked over her shoulder to Arcanine. "Run."

The two Pokemon bolted from their place as fast as they could just as the angry gym leader burst through the doors. The two Pokemon were already breathing heavily as they ran down the sidewalks. Arcanine glanced over his shoulder to see Surge running at an almost inhuman speed towards them. "Run FASTER!!" Arcanine yelled. A few moments later, the two were approaching the walking duo of Ninetales and Alakazam.

"RUN TO THE MOVIE THEATER NOW!!" Rai managed to yell before they sped past them. The two shrugged and ran off, slowly catching up to their friends. "Who are we...running from?" Ninetales panted.

"We're...running...from...him!" Rai answered, gesturing with her head behind her. Ninetales glanced behind her, then looked back to Rai, very confused. "WHO!?"

"HIM!" Rai shouted as she stopped on a dime and pointed behind her. The other three ceased running and followed her paw. They all looked down the sidewalk and saw...nothing. Rai tilted her head. "What?...Where did he?..."

"Rai, were we actually running from anybody?" Alakazam asked.

"Yes, we were! It was Lt. Surge! He was in his gym and he was talking to someone, so I listened in, right? Then he spotted me and Arcanine and chased us down the street!...But where did he go!?" she replied, bewildered.

"Rai, I think we need to find Amy and Chris," Arcanine interjected. Rai answered with a nod, and the Pokemon set off. In about five minutes, the Pokemon came upon the movie theater and made their way in. After poking their heads into a few theaters, they found the theater that displayed a lightsaber fight. "This one's it, you guys," Rai whispered to her friends.

She led the way down the aisle and glanced to her sides. "Amy?...Amy?" she whispered. 

"Rai?" The Pokemon looked to her left and saw Amy sitting on the aisle seat, wearing a strange set of glasses. "Rai, what are you and the others doing here?...Did you guys sneak in?"

"Amy, you have to come with us NOW," Rai explained in a harsh whisper.

"But we're only on the second movie! And it's in 3-D!" Amy replied happily.

"Amy, I'm serious. Something very wrong is going on right now with Lt. Surge, and I don't think it looks very good!"

"Rai, look, I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm sure it's nothing. Just wait till this movie finishes up and I'll be out, ok?" Amy whispered.

"BUT YOU HAVE TO COME NOW, BEFORE SOMETHING BAD--," Rai shouted, but was cut short. Suddenly, the entire theater went dark; the movie screen disappeared like a lightswitch, and even the tiny lights on the edges of the aisles went dark. The theater was completely silent, followed shortly by mumbles and whispers from other movie goers. 

"Something doesn't seem right about this...," Amy observed, looking around blindly in the darkness.

***************

Rai dragged the rest of the gang with her outside to the streets. The gang looked around and saw something very odd: all the streetlamps were out. Not a single one of them cast a pale yellow glow on the sidewalk as the sun was setting.

"What's going on here?" Cal asked, suspicious.

"Is this...a blackout?" Chris wondered aloud. "Like, is there really no electricity?"

Just then, Amy's phone from inside her pocket rang. She quickly pulled it out and opened it. "Hello?...Dad?...yeah, I'm fine! What's wrong?...Wait,  _what?_...Uh, yeah, it is here too...ok...yeah, I promise I'll look out for Josh. Ok...bye." Amy snapped the phone shut and looked to the other group with a concerned look. "The electricity is out in Celadon City too!"

"It's out in Saffron City too," Cal added, holding up his phone. On the small screen was a text. "My mom just texted me..."

"SEE!?" Rai shouted anxiously. "I  _told_ you something weird was going on!"

Chris and Amy kneeled down in front of Rai. "Rai, what happened,  _exactly?"_ Amy asked slowly.

"Arcanine and I passed by Lt. Surge's gym and we saw him in there, and I thought that was suspicious because all the other gym leaders are on the S.S. Anne, right? So he saw us watching him and the crazy guy started chasing us down the street! I looked back and saw he wasn't behind us anymore, so we decided to go find you guys!" she explained with heavy breaths.

"What did she say?" Chris asked as he and Amy stood up.

"Lots of stuff," Amy replied. "Basically, we have to get to the gym right now, because something really wrong is going on."

Amy, Chris, and Rai led the way as the other humans and Pokemon followed. Josh ran up to his sister, struggling to keep up her fast pace. "But Amy, if the electricity is out, shouldn't we go find a power plant, and not the gym?" he asked, worried.

Amy pondered this seemingly simple question. "Josh, the gym  _is_ the power plant. All of the electricity in Kanto comes from a generator underneath Lt. Surge's gym," she answered. "So if there's something going wrong with the electricity, then the problem gets solved at the gym." In a short amount of time later, the group came to the front of the gym. Chris looked through the doors and saw Lt. Surge and a small girl standing atop Surge's stage at the far end of the gym. "Lt. Surge is in there...with some little girl it seems..." he mumbled. He looked down and pressed a button near the doorframe, getting nothing from it but a hollow  _click!_ sound. "And of course the doors don't open without electricity..."

"Step back," Arcanine said with a jerk of his chin. The fire dog approached the door and rammed himself into it using his Strength attack. The doors broke like plastic and fell to the ground inside the gym, allowing the gang to rush inside. They ran as fast as they could, past the two metal conduits, to the edge of Lt. Surge's pedestal and looked up at him. "Lt. Surge! What's going on!?" Chris commanded.

The gym leader did not respond or even turn to look at Chris. He and the little girl stood with their backs to the gang, both looking up at a television screen in the wall above them. On the screen, it displayed what looked like to be the entrance to a cave, with two tall electricity conduits (similar to those of Lt. Surge) on its edges. After a few seconds of nothing, a teenage boy came from off screen. He wore a long white coat and had spiky black hair, but had his back turned to whatever camera was watching him. He stood at the entrance of the cave for a good five seconds, then held up a "thumbs up," heading into the cave and disappearing from sight.

Lt. Surge and the young girl looked to each other and exchanged a nod. They finally turned around and looked at the group before them. Josh looked at the little girl and gasped. "You! You're that girl who ran into me today at the Pokemon Center!" he exclaimed.

The little girl smiled to him widely. "Oh yeah, that was you! I do hope I didn't hurt your arm," she replied with a sad glint in her eye. 

"Quit having sympathy for them, Sybil," Lt. Surge said calmly at her, getting a slow nod from Sybil. The gym leader looked at Chris and the gang with a small grin on his face. "Well well, they told me you might be coming to interfere with our plans. But that's ok; I came prepared." Lt. Surge snapped his large fingers, and suddenly, electricity sprang to life from the conduits behind the gang, trapping them inside.

"Look, I don't know what you're doing here, but I can say for sure that you're not gonna get away with it!" Amy snapped.

The gym leader sighed. "Oh god, you sound like the dumb hero of every anime ever. I'm gonna keep it simple with you, kids. Do you see what's happening here?" he asked, pointing to the screen behind him. "This is just phase one of what we plan to be the event of us obtaining the greatest source of power in all of Kanto, and possibly the world!!"

"I know that place!" Cal exclaimed. "That's Cerulean Cave! What could you possibly want from there? It's just an old cave with nothing in it! You idiots are wasting your time by looking around in that place!"

"Has anyone ever told you that you're pretty rude?" Surge mumbled at Cal. "Your voice makes my brain cells commit suicide. Sybil, make him go to sleep."

"Sleep?" Cal repeated as Sybil gave Lt. Surge a small nod. Suddenly, Sybil's eyes began to glow pink. She raised her hand as a pink aura-like energy formed around it. She lunged her arm forward and sent the energy hurling at Cal. "WATCH OUT!" Amy yelled. She jumped at her friend and shoved him with all her strength. The pink energy collided with Amy's ribcage and sent her flying. Her body collided with the electric barrier behind them, causing her to stop abruptly as she shook with electricity coursing through her. Amy fell to the ground roughly, unconscious. Chris and Rai both rushed to her side and kneeled by her, protecting her body from harm. "What the hell is wrong with you, you piece of shit!?" Chris spat at the gym leader.

"Whoops. I kinda hit the wrong person," Sybil said meekly. Lt. Surge shrugged. "Eh, that's ok. I didn't like her either."

"I'm gonna give you guys one warning," Cal began angrily. "You either get out of here right now and turn the region's electricity back on, or we'll make this day your last!"

Lt. Surge and Sybil looked at each other with heavily sarcastic expressions of fear, then laughed viciously. "Oh really!? And how do you intend to do that!?" Lt. Surge asked amidst his laughter. 

"We'll stop you no matter what!" Josh yelled at them, with his voice trembling with fear.

"Seriously? You  _kids_ plan to stop us!? Don't make me laugh even harder! There's no way you're going to stop us!" he replied. The gym leader slowly stepped down from his stage and walked towards Josh, looking down into his eyes with pure intimidation. "You'll never be able to win. And you know what the best part is!?" he shouted.

Josh and the whole group shook their heads. A grin as wide as the horizon formed on Lt. Surge's face as he snapped his fingers once more. Just then, the image on the TV changed to another camera angle. On the screen was now an aerial view of the S.S. Anne on the open sea. 

"The best part is that the only people who  _could_ stop us...are stranded in the middle of the sea."

 

End of part one..........to be continued with: Power Surge (Part Two)

 


End file.
